It’s that time of year again! Winter Skin Season! You know the feeling…dry, chapped hands, rough cuticles, dry skin on your face, magnified wrinkles and increased redness. Great. So, what can we do about it? Let’s first discuss the reasons for these symptoms of dry winter skin.
Unfortunately, in winter, there are a myriad of different elements at work that stress the skin. Cold temperatures can really take their toll, particularly on delicate facial skin, and often cause poor circulation. With less blood flow, skin receives less oxygen and fewer nutrients, so normal skin rejuvenation processes slow down. This can cause your skin to look pale and dull. To add insult to injury, harsh indoor heating creates an extremely dry environment which causes skin to lose moisture. On top of all that, the quick transitions between freezing temps outside and warm interiors do not allow skin enough time to balance itself properly, which results in dry, red, irritated skin for you.
Although weather conditions are out of your hands, there are many products you can use to keep your skin in tip-top shape this winter. Mainly, when it comes to winter skin care, we want to do our best during cleansing and toning not to disturb the skin’s natural lipid barrier. The lipid barrier serves to protect skin from outside elements, as well as to retain moisture.
CLEANSERS
During the winter months it’s best to use a milky or creamy cleanser as they do not disturb the lipid barrier. Some good ones to try:
H20 Plus Sea Pure Creamy Facial Cleanser
Murad Renewing Cleansing Cream
Murad Moisture Rich Cleanser (For Dry Skin)
TONERS
When shopping for winter toners, you want to look for ones that do not contain alcohol. Alcohol increases dryness and redness and disturbs your skin’s protective barrier. Here are a couple of good alcohol-free toners that are perfect for winter:
Murad Clarifying Toner
MOISTURIZERS
Now that we’ve looked at how to protect our skin’s lipid barrier, we are going to look at some ways to hydrate and strengthen that barrier by moisturizing.
There are three basic categories of moisturizing ingredients and some ingredients will fall into more than one category.
The first category is Humectants, which attract water to the skin. These are non-comedogenic and have a low risk of allergic reaction.
The next category is Emollients. These ingredients typically soften, soothe, and lubricate your skin.
Then you have Occlusives. These create a protective barrier to protect skin from outside elements and prevent moisture loss. Often, Occlusives also act as emollients in a moisturizer. Petroleum is probably the most common and longest-used occlusive in skin care products.
Many moisturizers contain Humectants, Emollients, and Occlusives. These provide hydration, lubrication and protection from the elements.
Here are some good winter moisturizers that contain wonderful humectants, emollients and occlusives to protect your skin from top to bottom:
Murad Sheer Lustre Day Moisture SPF 15 (For daytime it’s always super important to wear sunscreen
Murad Age Balancing Night Cream
As long as you use gentle toners and cleansers and a multi-functional moisturizer, there’s no reason you can’t have skin that looks and feels great all season long.
Stay warm out there!
